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An Act To Establish the Livestock Damage Compensation Fund
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  7 MRSA §3906-B, sub-§2-A  is enacted to read:
 
2-A.  Livestock Damage Compensation Fund.     There is established within the department the Livestock Damage Compensation Fund. This account does not lapse, but continues from year to year. The commissioner shall pay from the Livestock Damage Compensation Fund compensation to eligible farmers for loss of livestock to predation by coyotes and other wildlife.
Sec. 2. Eligibility for livestock damage compensation. No later than December 1, 2013, the Commissioner of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry shall adopt rules governing the use of the Livestock Damage Compensation Fund under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 7, section 3906-B, subsection 2-A. The commissioner shall work with statewide associations representing farming interests to develop eligibility rules for farmers seeking compensation for livestock damage from the Livestock Damage Compensation Fund. In developing the eligibility rules, the commissioner may consider the applicant farmer’s adherence to best practices for housing and fencing to prevent livestock loss to predation, the presence of humane predator controls in place at the time of the livestock loss subject to the compensation request and the relationship of the compensation rate to a potential disincentive to the adequate protection of livestock against predation by wildlife.
Sec. 3. Appropriations and allocations. The following appropriations and allocations are made.
 
AGRICULTURE, CONSERVATION AND FORESTRY, DEPARTMENT OF
 
Livestock Damage Compensation Fund
 
Initiative: Appropriates funds for the Livestock Damage Compensation Fund to compensate farmers for livestock damage.

GENERAL FUND	2013-14	2014-15	
All Other	$150,000	$200,000	
			
GENERAL FUND TOTAL	$150,000	$200,000	

SUMMARY
This bill proposes to establish the Livestock Damage Compensation Fund as a nonlapsing fund within the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. The fund would compensate eligible farmers for damage done to livestock by coyotes and other wildlife. The bill requires the Commissioner of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to establish rules governing the Livestock Damage Compensation Fund no later than December 1, 2013.